HOW DID MINAMATA DISEASE HAPPENED?
From the 1920’s through the 1960’s, the Chisso Company used Mercury as a catalyst in the production of acetaldehyde (which is a chemical compound). It is a chemical intermediate with numerous uses including plastics and perfume production. The Chisso Company dumped methylmercury from the acetaldehyde production into Minamata Bay. The methylmercury first went into plankton and other microorganisms which were than eaten by fish and shellfish. This posed an important health hazard to the people that lived in the area who got their protein from seafood in the Minamata Bay.
On January 17, 1957 the Minamata Fishing Cooperative wanted the Chisso Factory to stop the factory polluting the bay. On the 22nd of the same month, the cooperative wanted the same thing but this time they appealed to the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture. In spite of these appeals the governor did not take any countermeasures. In 1957, 54 people had been medically found to have a ‘Strong Disease’ (Minamata disease) of which 17 died.
From the 1920’s through the 1960’s, the Chisso Company used Mercury as a catalyst in the production of acetaldehyde (which is a chemical compound). It is a chemical intermediate with numerous uses including plastics and perfume production. The Chisso Company dumped methylmercury from the acetaldehyde production into Minamata Bay. The methylmercury first went into plankton and other microorganisms which were than eaten by fish and shellfish. This posed an important health hazard to the people that lived in the area who got their protein from seafood in the Minamata Bay.
On January 17, 1957 the Minamata Fishing Cooperative wanted the Chisso Factory to stop the factory polluting the bay. On the 22nd of the same month, the cooperative wanted the same thing but this time they appealed to the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture. In spite of these appeals the governor did not take any countermeasures.
In 1957, 54 people had been medically found to have a ‘Strong Disease’ (Minamata disease) of which 17 died.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease
http://rarediseases.about.com/od/rarediseases1/a/102304.htm
By Canan Gok
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